Saved then Freed

“It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery” Galatians 5:1, NASB.

Chip* came to faith in Jesus through the ministry of a Sunday School teacher, but the path that allowed him to go to Sunday School in the first place involved God miraculously saving his parents. Jesus saved Chip from his sin as a 9-year-old. Chip followed Jesus in baptism as a 12-year-old. But it took several years and an eye disease before Chip found freedom from occult attachments that are very common among his people. You might say that Chip was saved and then freed.

Chip’s father grew up Buddhist, and his mother was Muslim. Chip’s grandfather on his mother’s side was Catholic. When his parent’s married, his father converted to Islam, but three years afterwards he reverted to his Buddhist ways. Chip had two older sisters and one younger brother at the time of God’s intervention in his family’s spiritual situation. Because the family was mixed in religious practice, the parents decided to encourage their children to follow whatever religious path pleased them.

Through the ministry of a Baptist church, Chip’s eldest sister heard the Gospel and decided to follow Christ. She invited her family to her baptism, and the pastor shared the Gospel during the service. Both of Chip’s parent’s were touched by the message, and a short time later both responded to the Good News.

Before becoming a Christian, Chip’s mother was involved in occult practices. She had what was called the “sixth sense,” which meant that she saw ghosts. Her father was also heavily involved in the occult. He had used charms and consulted with witch doctors in the belief that such things could make women fall in love with him. The fact that he ended up with three wives seemed to justify his beliefs!

About three months after Chip’s mom became a follower, her abdomen began to swell. Her pastor came and prayed over her in the Name of Jesus, and she was healed. Afterwards she realized that her condition was likely a spiritual attack. She also realized that Jesus was more powerful than the ghosts she saw, and she began to claim His authority to send the spirits away.

Chip had inherited his mom’s “sixth sense.” He too saw spirits and lived in great fear of them. Chip’s grandfather consulted with the witch doctor and was told that two powerful jins (spirits) were in their family’s house. The witch doctor told the grandfather to bury a pig bone in front of the door to keep the spirits out of the house. Chip’s parents decided to have their Bible study group over to pray for God’s protection over the house. They found the prayers in Christ’s Name were more effective than the charms at warding off spiritual attacks.

Soon after this, Chip came down with an eye ailment. Nothing that the doctors did seemed to help. But when the pastor prayed for him, his eyes improved. Chip thought about his mom’s experience with her stomach and about the prayers of the Bible study group. He thought about the pastor’s prayers making his eyes better. It suddenly clicked: Chip realized that Jesus was more powerful than the spirits he feared. He began claiming the authority of Christ and soon his eyes were completely healed and the spirits he used to fear stopped bothering him.

Chip went on to seminary and today works as a bi-vocational evangelist and translator for volunteer teams from the United States. His passion is to help others find the same salvation from sin and freedom from fear that he found in Christ.

*Name changed for security reasons.

Pray that:

God will bless Chip’s ministry with faithfulness, boldness and fruitfulness.

New believers from Chip’s people group will discover and walk in the power and freedom that only Christ can give.

God will call out more local believers to be evangelists and church planters among Chip’s people group.

Pacific Rim is a region of the International Mission Board, SBC.